Water makes up the majority of your body weight and it is a must for the body’s proper functioning. Apart from losing water through sweat, urine, and faeces, the body keeps on losing water via air you exhale and skin. It is recommended to drink fluids regularly to make for these losses and boost good exercise and health.
The recommended daily fluid intake is 91 ounces (2.7 litres) for adult women and 125 ounces (3.7 litres) for adult men.
Sports Drink Main Ingredients
The main ingredient in sports drinks is water but it also contains other substances such as carbohydrates and electrolytes that help in boosting performance. The carbs present in these drinks are in the form of sugar such as fructose, glucose, and sucrose. But they are available in other forms as well. Usually, sports drinks are 6-8% carbohydrates. And a 6% solution has approximately 14 grams of carbs per 240 ml. Some of the sports drinks are low or zero-carb for those who want to have water and electrolytes without extra calories.
Minerals or electrolytes that are electrical charges are a must for normal operation of the body. Sodium and potassium are the main electrolytes found in sports drinks.
Benefits of Sports Drinks for Athletes
Water, carbs, and electrolytes are the main components of sports drinks and each has its benefit for exercise. When a person sweats, water and electrolytes are lost and one should replace them especially in a long work-out session. The body stores carbs in your liver and muscles that are called glycogen that acts as fuel for exercise.
If you consume carbs during or before exercise, it can help with slowing down the speed of how your body runs out of the carb storage. Sports drinks provide these three main ingredients for boosting exercise performance or recovery.
Intermittent Exercise & Team Sports
The usage of sports drinks is quite common in team sports like basketball, football, and soccer. These sports involve intermittent activities that jump between intense exercise and rest. Some of the research found that ingesting sports drinks having carbohydrates can lessen fatigue and boost performance in sports like rugby and soccer.
Different Beverages Help in Staying Hydrated
Most of the sports drink marketing emphasizes the ability to keep you hydrated by replacing water and electrolytes that are lost through sweat. How much you sweat bases on many factors such as how hard and long you exercise along with your training level and environment. The rate of sweating in humans is between 10 fluid ounces/hour (0.3 litres/hour) to 81 fluid ounces/hour (2.4 litres/hour). It is recommended that athletes do not lose more than 2-3% of body weight through sweat during exercise. But it is still debated if sports drinks are more effective than water at keeping your hydrated.
Enjoy your Drink
Also, you should take into account the level of enjoyment of certain drinks and how much they affect how much you drink. The flavours play a key role and urge athletes to drink more sports drinks than water. Due to this, the drinks taste better and are also great for boosting fluid consumption in those who might be dehydrated.
Some other options
A study found that milk, orange juice, and oral rehydration solution was great to achieve the highest amount of hydration. Oral rehydration solutions are curated for fluid retention and have higher potassium and sodium levels than a normal sports drink. The study found that there was no difference in the hydrating capability of cola, sports drinks, tea, and water.
A common notion is that coffee and beer are dehydrating but they keep the body as hydrated as water. Most of the drinks can play a key role in boosting your daily fluid requirements and help with staying hydrated. But you should not drink beer or cola during exercise. This demonstrates that you have many options to stay hydrated.
Sports drinks are popular among fitness freaks and athletes. And their main components are water, carbs, and electrolytes. Research also supports its benefits for athletes or those who train harder and longer. But most of the individuals do not train enough to drink a sports drink. And if you do choose a sports drink, take the calorie content into account.
Sports drinks are good for athletes and bodybuilders and help with boosting their exercise and performance. Building a toned body requires numerous things and steps. And staying hydrated is one of them. Also, see that you take branded steroids to boost your workout and performance. Where to get them? Buy Steroids Online is an online seller that provides reliable services throughout the U.S. They have oral steroids and injectable steroids for sale in the U.S. Check out their range now!